Continuous short freeze in Vista Ultimate

Hi,

Since you have a fairly clean install I would skip down to the driver section here and update all my main
drivers at Dell and the various device makers. Also look for BIOS and software updates.

Be careful as a lot of those programs and services actually need to run and often removing a few
does little to speed the machine while making the machine less friendly to use.

Optimizing Microsoft Windows Vista Performance
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/959062

How to troubleshoot performance issues in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950685

How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

To see all that is loading bootup - wait a few minutes without doing anything - then Right Click TaskBar -
Task Manager - take a look at Appplications - Processes - Services - this is a quick reference (if you have
a little box on Lower Left - Show for All Users then check that).

How to Check and Change the Startup Programs in Vista
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/79612-startup-programs-enable-disable.html

A quick check to see which are loading is Method 2 there - using MSCONFIG then post a list of those here.

Method 1 using Windows Defender will tell you more specific information about each program.

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This is a little more complex though you might have a few services running you can do without.
Be careful as disabling a service can impact the ability of other services to run and cause issues
down the road.

Also some programs add services which might not really need to be starting automatically. You can
often put these type services on Manual to reduce their impact on performance.

To see these compare those in Start - type in Search box -> Services   find at top Right Click on it RUN AS ADMIN
to those in the default of Vista as listed here by BlackViper. Ignore and that are on Disabled (which do not run) or
Manual (which run only on demand) - for any Automatic or Automatic Delated Start you can post those in here if
you need help deciding if you need to run them. A few of those could be set to Stop and Manual so the calling program
can run them as needed.

BlackViper also makes some tweaks to the default windows services however I would not do those unless you
really understand the total significance of changing a default service. So use it as a tool to compare.

Windows Services - Default list.
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

WhatInStartup - Free - Disable/enable/delete programs at Windows startup
http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/what_run_in_startup.html

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These are some tools which will help in the future as you gain experience though the above methods will do what
you need done for now.

Window Watcher - Free - Do you know what's running on your computer? Maybe not. The Window Watcher tells all,
reporting every window created by every running program, whether the window is visible or not.
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptwinwatch.asp

Many excellent free tools and an excellent newsletter at Karenware
http://www.karenware.com/

Process Explorer - Free - Find out what files, registry keys and other objects processes have open, which DLLs
they have loaded, and more. This uniquely powerful utility will even show you who owns each process.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

Autoruns - Free - See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you
login. Autoruns also shows you the full list of Registry and file locations where applications can configure auto-
start settings.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Process Monitor - Free - Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896645.aspx

There are many excellent free tools at Sysinternals
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

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Another thing that help performance is updated drivers - Vista loves updated drivers.

This is my generic how to for proper driver updates :


For Drivers check System Maker as fallbacks and Device Maker's which are the most current.
Control Panel - Device Manager - Display Adapter - write down the make and complete model of your
video adapter - double click - Driver's tab - write down the version info. Now click UPdate Driver (this
may not do anything as MS is far behind certifying drivers) - then Right Click - Uninstall - REBOOT
this will refresh the driver stack.

Repeat that for Network - Network Card (NIC), Wifi, Sound, Mouse and Keyboard if 3rd party with their
own software and drivers and any other major device drivers you have.

Now go to System Maker's site (Dell, HP, Toshiba as examples) (as rollback) and then Device Maker's site
(Realtek, Intel, Nvidia, ATI as examples) and get their latest versions. (Look for BIOS, Chipset and software
updates at System Maker's site while there.)

Download - SAVE - go to where you put them - Right Click - RUN AD ADMIN - REBOOT after each installation.

Always check in Device Manager - Drivers tab to be sure the version you are installing actually shows up. This
is because some drivers rollback before the latest is installed (sound drivers particularly do this) so install a
driver - reboot - check to be sure it is installed and repeat as needed.

Repeat at Device Makers - BTW at Device Makers DO NOT RUN THEIR SCANNER - check manually by model.

Manually look at manufacturer's sites for drivers - and Device Maker's sites.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/driverssupport/ht/driverdlmfgr.htm

How to Install a Device Driver in Vista Device Manager
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/193584-device-manager-install-driver.html

If you update drivers manually then it is a good idea to disable Driver Installations in Windows Updates,
this leaves Windows Updates ON however it will not install drivers which will usually be older and cause
issues. If Updates suggests a new driver then HIDE it (Right Click on it) and then go look for new ones
manually if you wish.

How To Disable Automatic Driver Installation In Windows Vista - Drivers
http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/how-to-disable-automatic-driver-installation-in-windows-vista/
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730606(WS.10).aspx


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Readyboost can help, more RAM and ReadyBoost is even better and RAM is fairly cheap these days.

The max readyboost drive supported in Vista is 4 GB - if you get a driver larger than 4 gig you can use the
remainder for storage.

You need a very fast drive and pay little attention to manufacturers claims they are ReadyBoost Ready as
even some slow drives claim that.

ReadyBoost does it make a difference
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2160

How to find readyboost speed ratings
http://www.techcrater.com/2007/04/06/how-to-find-readyboost-speed-rating/

Flash Memory Speed List
http://www.techcrater.com/2007/04/05/readyboost-flash-memory-speed-list/

I use a SanDisk Titanium and it does pretty well - check the Speed Ratings users get at Techcrater to
help decide the brand to get.

Hope these help.

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Rob - Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.